You can follow a gut instinct, but you can’t follow your passions. It’s impossible. Passion grows from being fully invested in what you’re doing, and you can’t follow something that hasn’t grown yet. Gut feelings may steer you toward your passion, but just as likely, gut feelings will help you turn whatever you’re doing into something you can be passionate about.
The following is adapted from a blog post I wrote earlier this year. I’m reprising it now after having seen this and receiving an email from a college student who thinks he should give up accounting to follow his passion for music. Mike Rowe in the video is right; the college student is wrong.
(The college kid may be right insofar as I don’t recall anyone growing up wanting to be a bean counter, either… but I know quite a few happy accountants.)
The reality is, while some of us are made for a specific life, most of us are generalists. For generalists, our passion finds us, often in drips and drops, sourced across many different activities, until we finally see how to pull our world together in a way that makes us smile. It doesn’t really matter what a generalist does… because as long as s/he puts his/her heart and soul into the work, s/he can cultivate a passion for the work. Once you begin to apply yourself, your passions will begin speaking to you and making suggestions about how to change your surroundings to become even more passionate, but that is in the future. That all happens once the fire in your belly is burning brightly enough to matter.
At the beginning, you’re not ablaze. You’re a small pile of kindling at the camp site, and there’s a strong breeze blowing. Do you know what happens when you try to run from one spot to another with lit kindling in your hands? The fire dies. So before we start exploring this option or that one, we need to stoke the flames first. And that means staying focused on one thing. One fire. It may not be the location for the eternal flame, you may not even last a year where you are, but right now, we have got to invest everything we have in getting ourselves fired up about it before we can move to someplace else, because just like a campfire, if we move before the fire’s burning, it’ll go out and we’ll have to start all over.
Stop running around trying to find your passion. Your passion is already in your hands. It’s delicate, and it needs to be cultivated—wherever you are right now—before you can transfer it.
If there is one difference between the coaching I do and what others do, it’s this: I’ll help you draw your passion out, and won’t send you on a wild goose chase looking for it.
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This is why I think students with athletic or classical music backgrounds have a head start at success. They already know how to focus and work on the hard and sometimes boring parts, which you have to master before you can express yourself creatively or strategically. They’ve built one strong flame already, which means they have a head start building the next one.
Someone out there has convinced college students that if the word “passion” isn’t in their cover letters they are missing something important. I cross it out about a dozen times a day in the course of advising sessions.
I disagree. Unless I’m misinterpreting the post and the previous commenter’s thoughts I get an ‘if it doesn’t kill you it’ll only make you stronger’ vibe from this. Or perhaps a ‘you don’t know what’s good for you – eat your vegetables’ mentality. Neither of which resonate with me.
I don’t believe the onramp to the virtuous circle you describe is going out and working really hard. There are things that no matter how much energy we put into them we aren’t going to enjoy. Accounting may have been like that for the college kid.
The key is self-awareness and knowing where your interests and strengths lay. If you can find ways to tailor your work around them then you’ll be more likely to be engaged. (I don’t like ‘passionate’ it’s been over-played and misused. I doubt many people would be “passionate” enough about *any* job to pick doing it over having a rum drink on the beach.)
In addition to content, there is also a context piece with which we must pay attention. Every job will be different and the context in which we do the job (company culture, manager, team etc.) will also influence our ability to throw ourselves into our work. Acquiring that self-awareness that enables us to say no to the situations under which we won’t thrive is vital.
Our differences are in our starting points. If this kid gets fired up to take a job in the music business (or play music, it wasn’t clear) he should give it a shot. He’s clearly identified some interests and he’s much more likely to work hard and throw himself into it if he has a reason to be there. He shouldn’t become an accountant and work really hard with the expectation that the numbers are one day going to get up and dance across the ledger for him. If he doesn’t already enjoy accounting it’s not terribly likely that it’ll grow on him over time. That’s called resignation.
Or so I think…
I respectfully disagree with the premise statement “Passion grows from being fully invested in what you’re doing …”
I believe passion is an intentional choice, not a resultant emotion or event. I agree that it’s difficult to choose to be passionate about a particular task, skill, hobby or group. I believe that people usually choose passion for things much bigger than themselves, rather than concrete or material things.
For example, I am very skilled at complex spreadsheets and databases, but I am not passionate about spreadsheets and databases. However, I am passionate about making Fusion92 and our clients look like superstars, and I often use my skill sets to bring my passion into being.
The people that I admire are ones that are passionately committed to creating and sustaining certain spaces, and figure out the tools to get there. For example, causing all 5th graders in Arlington Heights to read at the 8th grade level means fund-raising, tutoring, enrollment, mentoring, etc. Passion is the fuel that makes the vision come into being.
@brent When the choice is vegetables vs. candy, choose veggies. It’s not that this kid is going to wake up one day and love accounting… it’s that he’s going to wake up one day and love his life… OR… He’s going to realize that he needs to move his fire, at which time, he’ll have clarity + a skill. If he jumps into music now, it’s like jumping into a relationship based on physical attraction: when the initial WOW factor burns off, what’s he got left? Besides a little experience in a field, no marketable skills, and maybe a little luck?
@John I am so thrilled you read my blog you have no idea. And the idea that passion comes from being attached to things bigger than you vs. materialism: I couldn’t agree more. Ultimately, it’s in how you use the skill, right? It’s not that using Excel gets you out of bed, but at some point you realized knowing that program was a key ingredient to making clients look like superstars, so you invested yourself in it.
If you know what you’re passionate about, go for it. You know—I’ve seen you and heard you speak; you’re one of the world’s specialists. For the generalists whose pilot lights aren’t set to BROIL, I still say don’t waste time searching for passion… focus on developing a skill and let the passion come to you… even if it comes from a different angle and requires you to change course later!
Jason, thanks for your thoughts. I’m not sure we’ll see eye to eye on this one, but that’s what makes discussing these things fun.
I hear you advocating making the ’safe’ choice. But I’d rather see somebody take a risk and fail than to never take one at all.
If music doesn’t pan out he can always follow through on the accounting route. But the converse will not likely be true. Once he starts down the path of making money he’ll get caught up in the rat race and his expenses will always meet his salary. The prospect of turning down a bundle of money every year and give up the live he now knows is something very few people can do no matter how strong the Siren’s call.
In the meantime he won’t mind living on couches because he doesn’t know any better. The risk is small. His opportunity costs is low and the safe choice will always exist for him. Plus, he’ll have far better interview stories to tell than all the other accountants applying for a job.
I don’t think we should discount the learning opportunities in taking risks. To say he’ll have no marketable skills is rather presumptuous and doesn’t give him any credit for being intellectually curious and learning how to manage a band (leadership) or promote shows (marketing) or negotiate gigs (finance), etc.
Obviously, you struck a chord.
Keep up the good writing.
+brent
Why can’t he do both. If he has a passion for music and training as an accountant why not be an accountant in the music industry. Look for networking opportunities, see if this really is where your passion lies. I agree you can’t just be a generalist and jump from here to there. You have to give things time. At the same time if you love music why not start looking in the music industry with what can make you a living while you continue to develop that passion? For too many years I believed others when they said “You can’t make a living doing art.” Problem is the desire and burning in the gut never left. Now 40 years later I’m starting to live my passion.
@Jim That’s exactly right: he CAN do both. Doing both is a destination. The journey requires focus, and focus means picking ONE thing to do today; get the fire going first. Long term: music. Short term: skill. If the love is truly there, these two things will find each other as a matter of course.
I understand the point you are making. It isn’t that one should ignore their passions or talents and lose focus on what they like or are good at, it is more about being realistic to some degree. I don’t think you are saying, “Go into accounting because you can make a good living” if someone has no desire at all to do accounting or no skills related to finance. Yet, just because someone has a passion for music doesn’t mean they are even close to the level needed to make it in the music business. Be realistic. How passionate are you about it? How good are you? How much more can you achieve? In this post I wrote for myusearch.com, I discuss choosing a major: http://myusearchblog.com/dude-whats-your-major It’s important that you are choosing your major based on your skills and talents and interests and not based on the income the potential career can provide or because of any other external reason. Yet, life is unpredictable and just because you’ve chosen a particular path doesn’t mean you won’t find yourself passionate about other areas along the way. Being in the position to “steer toward your passion” as you’ve suggested is the most sure-fire way to success. Overall in life, I’ve found that my career successes have come about through the advice you’ve given (and I’ve been happy). I also know I’ll keep finding new things I’m passionate about along the way.
I feel like a huge boulder has been lifted off my shoulders after reading this post. I am, like 80% of this year’s college graduates, currently unemployed and in the midst of this sometimes seemingly impossible job search. What makes it even more difficult for our generation I think is that so many of us have had the luxury of growing up being told “you can be anything you want to be. Find your dream and follow it.” I remember when I was 7 years old I wanted to be a vet. At 10 I wanted to own a bakery. I never expected that at 22 years old I would be sitting here with a degree in international studies and psychology trying to find a job in advertising. Some people are fortunate enough to just KNOW if they want to be a doctor or a teacher and just follow that one path. But it has been such a journey for me trying to figure out my interests. I freaked out today applying for this one advertising internship (don’t know yet if its my true passion but I’ve held a couple internships in advertising so that is my path thus far…). What if this is the wrong path? What if I’m meant to work in non-profit (i’ve always liked to volunteer)? So my mind was once again cluttered and I spent about 3 hours looking into non-profit work. You worded it perfectly Jason when you said “you are a small pile of kindling…” The wind was blowing and I was scattered all over the place, freaking out about if I was making the wrong life decision. I think what most of us new grads fail to remember sometimes is that we are NOT going to be tied down to our first job for the rest of our lives. It’s merely a stepping stone to give us the necessary skills to lead us in the right direction. Who knows, maybe advertising isn’t the right career path for me. But I’m so relieved to know now that I need to stick to my path that I’ve started or I won’t get anywhere at all. Thank you so much for your insight!